October 7, 2014

October 7, 2014

Hot Topics:

Marriage Equality Now: In case you missed it, The View panel started the show discussing the most recent Supreme Court decision to let appeals court rulings on same sex marriage stand. Whoopi noted that folks were shocked considering it is such a conservative court. Rosie P said she heard on NPR, some were saying they ended up ruling on same-sex marriage unintentionally but she thought it was very intentional. Rosie O thought it was very intentional too and also very wonderful. Nicolle clarified and said what actually happened was the court refused to hear appeals on same sex marriages any longer. She thought the decision was consistent with the conservative court, and that the justices are not unaware of the wishes of the nation. Rosie P observed that Republicans that had come out very hard against same-sex marriage were awfully quiet about the ruling yesterday. Nicolle said the Republicans are evolving on this issue just like Obama has over the years of his Presidency. Among Republicans, 70 % of Evangelical Christians under 30 support marriage equality. She said there will be a day very soon when we won’t even debate this issue any longer. She said, “The younger generation will save us from the hard debates that we’ve seen in our lives.” Whoopi pointed out that some Republicans are gay! Rosie O recalled when the Supreme Court ruled on the Edith Windsor case. She said she was very emotional about the ruling and came out of therapy and saw two girls holding hands. She told them how beautiful it was that they could be so out in the open with their love for each other though the girls were a little weirded out by a complete stranger commenting on their relationship. Rosie P said their freedom in their love was partly due to the fact that the girls lived in New York. She said many teens who live in southern states are still struggling to be out in the open. Whoopi said, “Change is coming and you cannot stem this tide.” Then she said to those that claim the Bible is against it “I recall Jesus had a lot of different kind of friends and never turned anybody away.”

Is Obama Lost?: In his new book, Worthy Fights, former Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, claims President Obama lost his way by pulling out of Iraq, which allowed the ISIS threat to grow. Whoopi wondered about the timing of his criticism. Nicolle said his criticism sounds like a Republican critique. She said the argument he’s making is when Obama drew a red line, as he did in Syria, and then chose not to enforce that red line, America lost respect in the world. But she also thinks there are politics involved in his statement. Panetta supports Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Presidential election and she believes that is a motive behind the timing of his statement. She said he is testing the message Hillary will need to trot out. Rosie O asked if Nicolle thinks one of the reasons ISIS was created was because when Saudi hijackers attacked us we invaded a completely different country [Iraq] that had nothing to do with the attack. She thinks it wasn’t the pulling out of the troops that caused people to radicalize but the fact that we invaded a completely separate country that didn’t actually attack us. Nicolle disagreed and said the terrorists hate us because of our values, our way of life and our freedom. Rosie O didn’t believe that theory, though she’s heard that rationale on Fox News. She said America has to be responsible for our actions and accept the consequences that occur when we attack a country. Rosie O said, as a mom, she objects to the killing of any innocent child. She said we’re not going to solve the world’s problems by killing each other. Whoopi said we may have also destabilized the region when we took out Saddam Hussein and maybe removing him from power wasn’t the best solution to the problem. Nicolle agreed and said that Egypt is a good example of that. She said because Egypt has been destabilized there are more people living in poverty and the economy is in shambles. She said the change to the area has been brutal to the people who live there. They also played a brief clip of a PSA Whoopi did with Lil Jon for Rock The Vote.

Women Know Sports:Men’s Health Magazine has pulled a tweet entitled “How To Talk About Sports With Women.” The tweet claims that women see the game differently than men and linked to an article about how to talk to the women in their lives about sports. Rosie P, an avid sports fan, said she appreciates that the magazine took back their tweet but thought it was very stupid of them to say what they did! She said it was an insult to women; to both their intellect and their love of sports. She said sexism like that holds women back from wanting to participate in sports. She also thought the tweet was insulting to all female sports commentators.

First Lady Doesn’t Get Paid For Her Work: There’s an article in the Atlantic that looks at the history and the duties of the First Lady and revealed that the First Lady doesn’t get paid for her duties. Whoopi thought the First Lady should at least get a stipend or something! Nicolle is admittedly obsessed with having a woman as President because she’s also obsessed with seeing what a First Dude would be like! She’s written novels with a fictional female President, in part, so she could write about a fictional First Dude. She said a First Dude most likely won’t have to give up his “day job,” won’t have to pick out the china and won’t have to go on the really long flights on the lesser airplane. The panel discussed past First Ladies and all the wonderful things they’ve done for our country over the years. You can pick up a copy of Nicolle’s books Eighteen Acres and It’s Classifiedhere.

Dr. Richard Besser: Dr. Richard Besser, the ABC News Chief Health and Medical Editor, joined the panel to discuss the Ebola epidemic. He just got back from West Africa and he assured everyone that he’s fine. Dr. Besser explained that Ebola can’t spread unless a victim is symptomatic. He said it is very different from the cold or the flu. He said you’re not contagious until you have a fever and “things coming out both ends.” He also said it is a very frightening way to die. Dr. Besser said he took every precaution on his trip. He didn’t shake a single hand the whole trip, didn’t go into a building except the hotel they were staying in and the place they were broadcasting from. When he did enter a building where there were sick patients he was in a full hazmat suit. He said they were constantly sprayed down with bleach to make sure he didn’t become part of the story. Dr. Besser said this crisis has the potential to be a humanitarian catastrophe like we’ve never seen. He said a whole part of the world is crumbling to this disease and the International community is not doing enough. They discussed the experimental drug and why it’s not being given to everyone that has it. Dr. Besser said the drug is very difficult to manufacture and there aren’t any doses left. Dr. Besser said if you’re interested in helping the region, viewers can give money to one of the organizations that are supporting the fight against the disease.

Sarah Paulson: Actress Sarah Paulson joined the panel to discuss her role playing Nicolle Wallace in the HBO film Game Change and her new role on “American Horror Story: Freak Show.”Nicolle joked that the only thing worse than playing a Republican is playing a two-headed woman [as she does in American Horror Story]. They played a clip from the film Game Change, and Nicolle said even after almost 10 years the memories still make her sweat. Sarah said when she played Nicolle she learned how to be a person under pressure with grace and dignity.

In American Horror Story, Paulson plays a two-headed woman. Rosie O admitted she was too scared to watch American Horror Story because she doesn’t like scary shows. Nicolle loves that the show is not just a horror show but also has a profound meaning. Sarah said the show is about the “little bit of freak in all of us” and how the freaks form their own community and find a home. Rosie O said the plot reminds her of a novel entitled Geek Love. American Horror story Freak show premieres Wednesday, October 8th on FX.

Will Chase: Will Chase joined the panel to discuss his character’s love triangle on the ABC drama Nashville. Will Chase plays country superstar Luke Wheeler on the hit show. They discussed the dedicated fans, family, singing, songwriting, his years on Broadway, his love for Twitter and their mutual love of country music. Will admitted even though he grew up in Kentucky he didn’t listen to country music much growing up. He didn’t really “get into it” until later in life. Will said the cast has recorded a Christmas album which will be released on November 4th! You can watch Nashville Wednesday nights at 10/9c on ABC!

DWTS Eliminated Couple: Betsey Johnson and Tony Dovolani joined The View panel to discuss their elimination from ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. Betsey got a little hurt doing a lift during the final weeks of the show but she performed despite her injury. She said she loved doing the show and she fell in love with Los Angeles! She said living in LA, compared to New York, felt like she was on vacation.

Quote-ables:

Nicolle: “The younger generation will save us from the hard debates that we’ve seen in our lives.”

Whoopi: “I recall Jesus had a lot of different kind of friends and never turned anybody away. “

Rosie O: “I don’t think that by killing each other we are going to solve the world’s problems.”

Dr. Richard Besser: [on being asked if he was afraid to visit West Africa during the Ebola epidemic] “If you are going to the hot zone and you’re not afraid then there’s something wrong and you could get into trouble.”

Geoffrey Holder’s son on the loss of his father: “My father is dancing his solo into tomorrow.”